We got up early and had a breakfast in the hotel room of fake croissants and biscuits. Got to the bus station, got a lift to another bus station then got the bus to Xiahe, where Labrang Monastery is. It's the second most important Tibetan Buddhist monastery after the one in Lhasa. We had lunch in a cafe, Tiibetan soup and watched the Tibetan monks in their maroon robes on their shopping trips out of the monastery from the balcony we were eating on. We headed up to the monastery and saw western faces for the first time since Dunhuang. The monastery was amazing, beautiful buildings in mountain scenery, Buddhist artwork and sculptures and bizarrely yak butter carvings. This is a traditional gift from local Buddhist families to the monastery. They are kept in a specially designed room to keep them cool and to stop them melting. There was an odd smell but the carvings were amazing!
Our tour guide, Tin Jin, was a nutter - no other word to describe him. He'd been a monk since the age of 13 and had been at Labrang for the last 5 years, studying a Philosophy degree there. The degree takes 25 years! It involves debating and discussing ideas with the teachers. A degree in traditional Chinese medicine at the Monastery takes 15 years, they have to collect the ingredients and manufacture the medicine as well as knowing how to prescribe it. We saw tombs, a large prayer hall that could hold 1,000 monks at a time. Unfortunately didn't have that much time as the last bus was a 5 o' clock, we got on it and got back to Linxia in time for a great dinner. We went to a cafe where they have heated plates in the middle of the table. You put a wok on it, buy a soupy broth and cook seafood, meat and vegetables in it. It was good fun and tasty.
We had a long lie in the next day, left the room covered in mud, not much we could do about it unfortunately and checked out. We had to argue our way out of being charged for a chip on a mug in the room we're pretty sure we didn't chip then were allowed to use their boiler room to wash our bikes. I discovered my headset was falling apart and took it apart, greased it and had to replace the ball bearings individually. Phil had to fix his gears that were full of dirt and not working properly. We cleaned the bikes using a hosepipe and toothbrushes from the hotel room. After fixing all the problems, the points score of the bike problems were 5 - 2.5, not looking good for me!
We left Linxia via wonton soup and noodles then bought loads of snacks to take with us. We found an amazing bike shop, a large workshop with bits of bike lying around everywhere. I bought some bolts to fix my panniers and some ball bearings to top up the headset bearing which was missing a few. We got onto the motorway into the evening and found a campsite just off the side in a wood. Two Muslim boys came over and "helped" Phil put up his tent. We made a fire and cooked tea on it - Ace day.
It was pissing it down when we woke up so we lay in a while then had breakfast in a tunnel under the motorway. We left the the tunnel, cycled along the motorway for 10 miles and left at a town and got noodles soup for 60 pence! We went to a workshop and got the pipe from my stove blasted with a compressor, which unblocked it. We realised the problem, we'd been given diesel rather than unleaded petrol at the last petrol station we filled up at. It was blocking the pipe. We bought some unleaded and that evening got the stove burning again. We camped in another wood by the motorway, had a fire and cooked marshmallows on it and used the stove to make some tea.
In the morning, we lifted the bikes up a very muddy bank back onto the motorway and got going early. Uneventful morning on the motorway until it ran out and turned into a main road. Went past loads of building work on the outskirts of Huichan. We had absolutely appalling food - just awful - from a street stall: fried gelatine, and gross noodles, we thought it was potatoes! We then went to a bakery and the baker tried to overcharge us by about 300% so we left the town quickly. We went down a nice road that evening, past a few villages, and saw a group of old men, still wearing the communist-style blue suits from the time of Mao. They were playing some card game with some complicated looking symbols on them and gambling. We bought a load of delicious muffins that night from a bakery that didn't overcharge us and had a beer at a nice campsite on a hillside. Luxury!
We woke up on the hill and had a decent breakfast, finished the muffins and obviously had jasmine tea, as we do everyday. A man with a herd of goat and sheep was snooping around the tents in the morning. I thought it was Phil so I said hello and he scarpered. We descended for a while in the morning and followed a reasonable road for a few miles but got deafened again by the bus and truck horns. We tried to get on the motorway at lunchtime but the toll gate guard wouldn't let us through so we cycled along a country road for a while then lifted the bikes onto the motorway at a bridge. We spent the rest of the day getting some miles done on the motorway, going through tunnels (we got shouted out in one by a lady on the PA system). The police stopped us and told us to leave at the next junction, we said of course we will, we didn't. I passed 10,000 miles and took some photos of the occasion, not a beautiful place but great to get onto 5 figures on the speedo! We stopped at a service station and were allowed to put our tents up around the back.
We left the service station and used the fantastic new bathroom there! We continued along the motorway all morning including a 8km long tunnel. Not beautiful but great to miss out on the massive mountain in went through! In the middle it was pitch black and I was glad of my brilliant Hope bike light. We left the motorway at Tianshul and got a big lunch, cycled through and left the city on a small road along a railway. The road switchbacked up and down hills, it was amazing cycling but slow. We stopped at a garage to shelter from the ever present rain. We got coffee there and carried along the Yellow River valley. We camped under a railway bridge and it was dry but it was a bit noisy when the train went over. I fixed my tent zip using the zipper off my wallet and we had pot noodles for dinner.
More rain the next day. The railway bridge had done a good job of keeping us mostly dry. Unfortunately trains woke us up about once an hour all night because they honked their horn before crossing the bridge. We had jam and bread for breakfast then cycled along the Yellow River valley. It was good and flat/downhill and we made good progress. We stopped for a coffee with a man who had 2 seats under a parasol. We passed a small town, ate wontons, fried bread with veg in, dead good and cheap. Phil got 3 punctures from some glass, fixed two on the front wheel and one on the rear later on. That evening we reached Boaji, a large city and camped in an industrial wasteland next to the motorway. It finally stopped raining!
We woke up, lifted the bikes onto the motorway and got going, Phil fixed his rear puncture, score now 5 - 4 looking better for me, I stand a chance now! I had to contact DHL, the parcel has reached Xi'an but there is a problem with the delivery address. Not much happened that day, or the next, we followed the motorway into Xi'an and camped in a maize field. We saw a huge spider/tarantula at the campsite. The ride into Xi'an was easy enough, we reached the old city and went through the city walls. We found a cheap hotel for 4 quid a night on the 8th floor near the West gate. We planned to visit the Terracotta Army that afternoon.
Our tour guide, Tin Jin, was a nutter - no other word to describe him. He'd been a monk since the age of 13 and had been at Labrang for the last 5 years, studying a Philosophy degree there. The degree takes 25 years! It involves debating and discussing ideas with the teachers. A degree in traditional Chinese medicine at the Monastery takes 15 years, they have to collect the ingredients and manufacture the medicine as well as knowing how to prescribe it. We saw tombs, a large prayer hall that could hold 1,000 monks at a time. Unfortunately didn't have that much time as the last bus was a 5 o' clock, we got on it and got back to Linxia in time for a great dinner. We went to a cafe where they have heated plates in the middle of the table. You put a wok on it, buy a soupy broth and cook seafood, meat and vegetables in it. It was good fun and tasty.
We had a long lie in the next day, left the room covered in mud, not much we could do about it unfortunately and checked out. We had to argue our way out of being charged for a chip on a mug in the room we're pretty sure we didn't chip then were allowed to use their boiler room to wash our bikes. I discovered my headset was falling apart and took it apart, greased it and had to replace the ball bearings individually. Phil had to fix his gears that were full of dirt and not working properly. We cleaned the bikes using a hosepipe and toothbrushes from the hotel room. After fixing all the problems, the points score of the bike problems were 5 - 2.5, not looking good for me!
We left Linxia via wonton soup and noodles then bought loads of snacks to take with us. We found an amazing bike shop, a large workshop with bits of bike lying around everywhere. I bought some bolts to fix my panniers and some ball bearings to top up the headset bearing which was missing a few. We got onto the motorway into the evening and found a campsite just off the side in a wood. Two Muslim boys came over and "helped" Phil put up his tent. We made a fire and cooked tea on it - Ace day.
It was pissing it down when we woke up so we lay in a while then had breakfast in a tunnel under the motorway. We left the the tunnel, cycled along the motorway for 10 miles and left at a town and got noodles soup for 60 pence! We went to a workshop and got the pipe from my stove blasted with a compressor, which unblocked it. We realised the problem, we'd been given diesel rather than unleaded petrol at the last petrol station we filled up at. It was blocking the pipe. We bought some unleaded and that evening got the stove burning again. We camped in another wood by the motorway, had a fire and cooked marshmallows on it and used the stove to make some tea.
In the morning, we lifted the bikes up a very muddy bank back onto the motorway and got going early. Uneventful morning on the motorway until it ran out and turned into a main road. Went past loads of building work on the outskirts of Huichan. We had absolutely appalling food - just awful - from a street stall: fried gelatine, and gross noodles, we thought it was potatoes! We then went to a bakery and the baker tried to overcharge us by about 300% so we left the town quickly. We went down a nice road that evening, past a few villages, and saw a group of old men, still wearing the communist-style blue suits from the time of Mao. They were playing some card game with some complicated looking symbols on them and gambling. We bought a load of delicious muffins that night from a bakery that didn't overcharge us and had a beer at a nice campsite on a hillside. Luxury!
We woke up on the hill and had a decent breakfast, finished the muffins and obviously had jasmine tea, as we do everyday. A man with a herd of goat and sheep was snooping around the tents in the morning. I thought it was Phil so I said hello and he scarpered. We descended for a while in the morning and followed a reasonable road for a few miles but got deafened again by the bus and truck horns. We tried to get on the motorway at lunchtime but the toll gate guard wouldn't let us through so we cycled along a country road for a while then lifted the bikes onto the motorway at a bridge. We spent the rest of the day getting some miles done on the motorway, going through tunnels (we got shouted out in one by a lady on the PA system). The police stopped us and told us to leave at the next junction, we said of course we will, we didn't. I passed 10,000 miles and took some photos of the occasion, not a beautiful place but great to get onto 5 figures on the speedo! We stopped at a service station and were allowed to put our tents up around the back.
We left the service station and used the fantastic new bathroom there! We continued along the motorway all morning including a 8km long tunnel. Not beautiful but great to miss out on the massive mountain in went through! In the middle it was pitch black and I was glad of my brilliant Hope bike light. We left the motorway at Tianshul and got a big lunch, cycled through and left the city on a small road along a railway. The road switchbacked up and down hills, it was amazing cycling but slow. We stopped at a garage to shelter from the ever present rain. We got coffee there and carried along the Yellow River valley. We camped under a railway bridge and it was dry but it was a bit noisy when the train went over. I fixed my tent zip using the zipper off my wallet and we had pot noodles for dinner.
More rain the next day. The railway bridge had done a good job of keeping us mostly dry. Unfortunately trains woke us up about once an hour all night because they honked their horn before crossing the bridge. We had jam and bread for breakfast then cycled along the Yellow River valley. It was good and flat/downhill and we made good progress. We stopped for a coffee with a man who had 2 seats under a parasol. We passed a small town, ate wontons, fried bread with veg in, dead good and cheap. Phil got 3 punctures from some glass, fixed two on the front wheel and one on the rear later on. That evening we reached Boaji, a large city and camped in an industrial wasteland next to the motorway. It finally stopped raining!
We woke up, lifted the bikes onto the motorway and got going, Phil fixed his rear puncture, score now 5 - 4 looking better for me, I stand a chance now! I had to contact DHL, the parcel has reached Xi'an but there is a problem with the delivery address. Not much happened that day, or the next, we followed the motorway into Xi'an and camped in a maize field. We saw a huge spider/tarantula at the campsite. The ride into Xi'an was easy enough, we reached the old city and went through the city walls. We found a cheap hotel for 4 quid a night on the 8th floor near the West gate. We planned to visit the Terracotta Army that afternoon.
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